Polestar 2 was meant to be a Volvo but 'it never really fitted in'

09/16/2024 04:00 PM

The Polestar 2 – the first electric car from the Volvo off-shoot – progressed part-way through development as a successor to the Volvo S40 sedan before the badge was switched, it has been outlined.

It is no secret the Polestar 2 production car is based on the Volvo 40.2 Concept, unveiled in 2016 alongside a second 40.1 show car that previewed the popular Volvo XC40 small SUV.

However, Drive understands work on a Volvo-badged version of the sedan went far enough to earn the vehicle a Volvo development codename, V331, before it switched to Polestar and was reborn internally as the P319.

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Polestar head of product attributes, Christian Samson, was Senior Design Program Manager at Volvo Cars when the 40.2 Concept debuted.

“I was at Volvo design at the time, and it never really fitted in,” Samson told Drive.

“The line-up of Volvo was there, and this concept was not really part of the Volvo family. It was something else. So it was always like, what do we do with it? … It was designed as a Volvo, but in its own it was not.

“It was a perfect match for Polestar, when that discussion came up.”

The Volvo 40.2 and 40.1 concepts were unveiled in May 2016, more than a year before Volvo announced Polestar would be spun off as a “separately-branded electrified global high-performance car company.”

At the reveal of the concepts, Volvo said they would preview “a range of vehicles” – plural – offering plug-in hybrid and/or electric drivetrain options, depending on model.

“Each member of our product family has its own distinct character … This is the flavour of small Volvos to come,” Volvo design chief Thomas Ingenlath said in a media statement at the time. Just over a year later, Ingenlath became the first CEO of Polestar.

The original Volvo codename given to the vehicle based on the 40.2 concept suggests it would have been the successor to the Volvo S40, the second and final generation of which exited production in 2012.

The Volvo XC40 was revealed in late 2017, but the proportions of the Volvo 40.2 show car were not seen until the premiere of the Polestar 2 – plans for which were confirmed in October 2017 – in early 2019.

Subsequent models from Polestar have moved away from the firm’s parent, though technical links remain with Volvo vehicles, as well as those from Chinese auto giant Geely, which owns both brands.

The new Polestar 3 SUV is related under the skin to the Volvo EX90, but it wears unique bodywork, while the Polestar 4 SUV is based on a Geely platform used by Volvos, Smarts and Zeekrs.

The Polestar 5 sedan and Polestar 6 convertible will be the brand’s first cars on a bespoke Polestar-developed platform, when they launch in 2025 and 2026 respectively.

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